Alaska Day 10 - Denali National Park

Tour Guide Steve, Denali National Park, Alaska, originally uploaded by jsevier14.

And so the 10th day of the trip we piled on a bus at the McKinley Princess Lodge early enough to make the 2 hour drive up Alaska Route 3 in time for lunch. We’d be staying at the aptly named “Denali Princess Lodge”, which by all I saw there appears to be yet the biggest game in what there was of the town.

Along the way there is a classic “Weird Alaska” sighting, the famous, or more likely IN-famous Igloo Motel and Gas Station. The bus pulled into the parking lot for a few minutes, long enough for a few pictures maybe, and I did manage to get a panorama using Missy’s point and shoot.

The idea for the motel was hatched by an entrepreneur who managed to get the structure built without the benefit of the proper permits and inspections. When it came time to open for business, the building didn’t meet code, particularly as it relates to fire escape. The building itself has changed hands several times but no one has been able to overcome the architectural deficiencies that made bringing the structure up to code impossible.

Whoops. Looks like it might have been a fun stop.

Further along the way the bus stops at Broad Pass, which is where the Alaska and Talkeetna ranges come together and the Nenana river flows through the basin. It would have been a pretty sight had it not been shrouded in cloud cover and misty rain. 

There are usually plenty of wildlife viewing opportunities, but we were only there long enough to give everyone a chance to have their picture made with the big brown banner that says “Broad Pass - Gateway to Denali National Park...”

Our stay at the park was disappointingly short at a little less than 2 days, with the first day dominated by the 5 hour mid afternoon bus tour. Cars are permitted to travel partway into the park, and if you want to see more of the interior, you either hike it, or you take a bus. The bus tour is actually included in the price of the cruise, so there we were. I’d have liked to have spent another day or two exploring the Day Hike trails, and maybe even driven myself out to the areas where the mountain can be viewed. Good plans for next time, I suppose, but for this trip, the cruise line likes to keep everyone together. And if you’re a cruiser, or in other words, a completely inexperienced Alaska traveller, then staying together makes sense. The park’s brochure states in red letter print “Denali is true wilderness. Before you venture into the park, read the safety messages in the free visitor guide Alpenglow.” What’s missing is “because we don’t want to have to go find you.” It goes on… “Grizzly bears and moose are dangerous.” That seems plain enough.

When we were there before, the place was literally under construction with dirt parking lots and gravel driveways. Now the complex has expanded and become an oasis of luxury way up here in the Alaskan outback.

And so we found our rooms, then darted across the highway for a quick bite at the Denali Dog House, where my photographic exploits apparently freaked out a little red-headed kid watching me intently through the window.

Good Dog. And there I had a conversation with locals who surmised very quickly I was a photographer AND not particularly happy with having to rush of prefabricated tourism and suggested when I mentioned one of my “Next Time” deals a book called “The Milepost” for guiding my next venture. After a short bit of gift shop perusal, we headed back to the lodge in plenty of time to board the bus, where we met Steve, our Fu Manchu’d bus driver pictured above.

I learned two very important things from Steve.

1.) There’s no whining in Alaska.
2.) Don’t mess with Bears.

Missy and I still use the “There’s no whining in Alaska” line on each other when one or the other slips into self-pity.

The bear story highlights why it makes sense to keep yourself surrounded with like-experienced travelers herded by a guide if you’ve never been to Alaska before. One previous tour a bear came into view and started to approach. It was far enough away that the group was able to calmly get themselves back into the relatively safe, iron-clad confines of the school bus used for these tours. After the headcount came up short, Steve found the one erstwhile tourist lining up a shot with his camera of the now dangerously close grizzly. And the bear was none too happy about it either, snorting and clawing angrily at the dirt. Steve says he literally grabbed the dude by his shirt collar and dragged him back to the bus, just in the nick of time.

Then there was the other story about the bear who stalked and killed a moose calf in plain view of another busload of tourists. They were certainly traumatized by this. One so much so that she sent a strongly worded email to the Department of the Interior, chiding them for allowing such things to happen in their parks.

Like I said, if you’re new to wilderness travel, and spend most of your vacations on beaches or amusement parks, better you should experience Alaska by cruise, in large herds led by a professional guide equipped with bear spray and maybe even a firearm. It greatly enhances your chances of not becoming a nominee for that year’s Darwin Award.

Speaking of the Darwin Award, Steve warned us about this pretty purple plant we might find during our stops called “Monkshood.”

Turns out this plant is poisonous, so we were warned specifically not to touch it. The toxins absorb through the skin and mess around with your heart and circulation. Best to leave it alone. And honestly, I’d have never known that had Steve not told me about it. So next time I go, I know not to touch plants I don’t know anything about.

This tour was shorter, and not nearly as eventful as our first trip. That one was an all day affair, complete with a crazy bus driver who had relocated from the lower 48 to a log cabin all by himself. He had a gas powered generator that provided just enough juice to power his coffee pot and cd player (this would have been before iPods). He also had a weird way of saying the word “Caribou”, and Missy and I drop that one on each other every so often. It was kinda like George H. W. Bush would say it… “Carri-boo.” We also saw lots more wildlife on that trip. Dall sheep… Bears way up on the hillside. This time, not so much. All we saw was a mew flying around.

The bus made several scheduled stops, one for and old ranger station, another for hot chocolate, made with hot water that ran from a spigot on the back of the bus, then the final stop was at Inspiration Point...

…where we were greeted by Carol. That’s an oddly European name for an Athabascan native. Carol spoke of the cultural significance of Denali, did some chants for us, and it would have been oh so deep and meaningful had it not been prefaced with “if you could see the mountain…”

Our luck in viewing had finally run dry. Denali should have been right there in the center of the frame. I was so disappointed.

The first time Missy and I were up here though, we did see the mountain, and had our picture made by it to prove it. My disappointment is more greed, really. By comparison to most I’ve feasted on views of Denali. Not seeing it this time was a sharp disappointment, but the 18 months or so that now separate me from that trip have brought things into perspective. We’re lucky to have seen it as much as we have.

Missy and me in front of Denali in 1996

Then we turned about and headed back to the lodge. The trip was so completely uneventful, nothing like I remembered it being from before. But trips into the “true wilderness” are a bit of a crap shoot. Wildlife does indeed have a mind of its own.

The rest of the evening was very quiet. I spent some more time shooting, then we went to a salmon bake dinner show not to far from our room. The cast were all aspiring actors cutting their teeth at Denali National Park, which is not a bad way to spend your college summers.

And after that, another one of our many card games at the lodge. I stole out between hands to shoot yet another twilight. I knew this night the end was getting close. One more night in Alaska, then we’d be on our way home.

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